A US court has ruled that five elephants, currently being held at a Colorado zoo had no legal right to pursue their release since they are not human. An animal rights group brought the lawsuit on behalf of the gentle giants from Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in Colorado Springs, using a legal process known as habeas corpus, according to a report in NBC News. The Nonhuman Rights Project (NRP), argued that elephants, born in the wilderness of Africa, showed signs of brain damage as the zoo was essentially a “prison” for such intelligent and social creatures.
The group hoped that the Colorado Supreme Court would rule in their favour and allow the animals to be sent to an elephant sanctuary. However, the top court stated that the “majestic” animals – named Missy, Kimba, Lucky, LouLou and Jambo – were not covered by the laws the rights group was pointing to.
“Instead, the legal question here boils down to whether an elephant is a person. And because an elephant is not a person, the elephants here do not have standing to bring a habeas corpus claim,” the court said in its ruling.
The judgment by Colorado’s highest court follows a similar court verdict in New York in 2022 when an elephant named Happy at the Bronx Zoo was also not allowed to escape.
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‘Manipulate people’
Meanwhile, the Colorado Zoo issued a statement, targeting NRP by pointing out that the organisation had previously filed the same lawsuit against several other zoos, essentially “abusing the court systems” to raise funds.
“It seems their real goal is to manipulate people into donating to their cause by incessantly publicising sensational court cases with relentless calls for supporters to donate,” the zoo said.
Reflecting on the verdict, NRP said it perpetuated a “clear injustice” whilst predicting that future courts would reject the idea that only humans have a right to liberty.
“As with other social justice movements, early losses are expected as we challenge an entrenched status quo that has allowed Missy, Kimba, Lucky, LouLou, and Jambo to be relegated to a lifetime of mental and physical suffering,” it said in a statement.